“I value the communities that I have formed and am continuing to expand on. My artwork aims to bring people closer and act as markers for people to congregate around. Larger pieces are a community experience because they quickly evolve into a project of lifting, moving, loading, and celebrating. Friends are important and a strong community is key.” – George Rodiguez
Born and raised in El Paso, TX, George Rodriguez creates humorous decorative ceramic sculpture addressing his identity and community. He received an MFA from the University of Washington and a BFA in ceramics from the University of Texas El Paso. He received the 2016 Museum of Northwest Art (MoNa) Luminaries: Patti Warashina Award for Emerging Artists. Rodriguez has exhibited extensively, including a solo show at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. His work can also be found in the permanent collection of the National Mexican Museum of Art in Chicago. He continues to draw on his travels to 26 countries on three continents backed by the Bonderman Travel Fellowship. Expanding on his studies of global culture and ceremony, Rodriguez seeks to bridge his Chicano heritage with Thai, Peruvian, Bolivian, Mongolian, Egyptian, Taiwanese, and Indonesian civilization and mythology. His work is a celebration of the individual against the backdrop of community, the modern world against the backdrop of the ancient. Rodriguez is represented by Foster/White Gallery in Seattle, WA.
The 2020 Emerging Artist exhibition and presentations will be at the next NCECA Conference in Richmond Virginia, March 25 – 28, 2020
